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Mother fights off kidnapper in supermarket to save girl

9 Jun, 2016 6:13am

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Source: Citrus County Sheriff’s Office A Florida man has been charged with kidnapping and child abuse after attempting to snatch a teen girl from her mother, right in front of everyone at a supermarket. The mother managed to grab her daughter back before the suspect ran away, only to be caught by an off-duty police officer.

The mother managed to thwart the attempted kidnapping before the suspect fled.The Citrus County Sheriff's Office said the store manager yelled to an off-duty police officer outside the store that the fleeing man had tried to abduct the girl.

Deputy Jonathan Behnen used his patrol car to block Bonello's vehicle and arrest him.CCTV footage showed the suspect pushing a trolley at the Dollar General store before the attempted kidnapping.

No one was hurt in the attack, the sheriff's office said, and detectives are investigating why Bonello allegedly grabbed the girl.

"In my 10 years on the road I have never seen anything like this. He truly intended to abduct this child right in front of everyone in the store," Sergeant Craig Callahan said, according to NBC News.

He added: "We are very fortunate our deputy was there as quickly as he was. We are very fortunate that the mother had that motherly instinct and did what she did. She may have saved her daughter's life today. I don't exactly know a motive, but I know it wasn't a good one."

Bonello will be charged with one count each of kidnapping and child abuse, the sheriff's office said.

Sheriff's office records show Bonello was arrested for trespassing at a Walmart store in February. He has several other arrests for misdemeanours since 2009, but none relate to abduction.

The suspect's uncle, Tony Bonello, said his nephew had problems.

"It's just sad that this has happened, because this is not the kid that grew up with my kids," Tony Bonello told NBC News. "He needs to talk to some psychiatrists and find out what the issue is."